Europe’s best known landmarks — including the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben and Rome’s Colosseum — fell dark Saturday, following Sydney’s Opera House and Beijing’s Forbidden City in joining a global climate change protest, as lights were switched off across the world to mark the Earth Hour event. In the United States, the lights went out at the Empire State Building in New York, the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., and the Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta. Millions were expected to turn off lights and appliances for an hour from 8:30 p.m. in a gesture to highlight environmental concerns.
Some Democrats want transfers to Yemen stopped
WASHINGTON (AP) — Some Democratic lawmakers who support closing Guantanamo Bay say the U.S. should reconsider whether to repatriate suspected terrorists from Yemen, given the al-Qaida activity in the poor Arab nation.
President Barack Obama’s top counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan, said Sunday the transfers will continue if the administration deems them warranted.
Six Yemenis returned last month were released after the government there determined they were not a threat, officials in Yemen told The Associated Press.
Gloom and fury as Pakistan toll nears 100
SHAH HASAN KHEL, Pakistan (AP) — Tribal elders in a Pakistani village where a suicide car bomber killed nearly 100 people insisted Saturday that residents will keep defying the Taliban, even as the bloodshed laid bare the risks facing the citizens’ militias that make up a key piece of Pakistan’s arsenal against extremism. The New Year’s Day attack on the northwest village of Shah Hasan Khel was one of the deadliest in a surge of bombings that has killed more than 600 across Pakistan since October. Police believe the attacker meant to detonate his 550 pounds (250 kilograms) of explosives at a meeting of tribesmen who supervise an anti-Taliban militia. Instead, the blast went off at a nearby outdoor volleyball court, killing at least 96 people.
8 Americans killed in Afghanistan bombing
KABUL (AP) — The Taliban claimed responsibility Thursday for a suicide bombing at a base in eastern Afghanistan that killed eight American civilians and one Afghan, the worst loss of life for the U.S. in the country since October. A U.S. congressional official said CIA employees are believed to be among the victims.
Four Canadian soldiers and a journalist also were killed Wednesday by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan’s south, the bloodiest single incident suffered by that country’s military this year.
A look back at Minnesota’s 2009
Al Franken finally got to take his seat in the U.S. Senate. Two Northwest Airlines pilots were grounded after they forgot to land in the Twin Cities. And a 13-year-old boy with cancer touched off a nationwide manhunt when he fled with his mother to avoid court-ordered treatment. Those were just a few of Minnesota’s top stories of 2009, a year also marked by Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s rising profile on the national political scene, the fall of Minnesota businessmen Tom Petters and Denny Hecker, the dawn of the Brett Favre era with the Minnesota Vikings, and two newlyweds who became an Internet sensation with their joyous dance down the aisle.
Attack on pope raises security issues
VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican will review its security procedures after a woman jumped a barrier and rushed at Pope Benedict XVI for the second time in two years, managing to knock him down before being pulled away by security, the Vatican spokesman said Friday. Benedict, 82, wasn’t hurt and delivered his traditional Christmas Day greetings in 65 languages from the loggia overlooking St. Peter’s Square. The incident in St. Peter’s Basilica raised fresh questions about security for the pontiff, however, after officials said the woman involved had jumped the barrier at the 2008 Midnight Mass in a failed bid to get to the pope. She even wore the same red-hooded sweat shirt.
Winter storm claims second Minnesotan
Minnesota authorities say a second person has died because of icy road conditions caused by a fierce Christmas storm on Friday that dumped more snow and ice across the nation’s midsection. The Minnesota State Patrol says a collision Thursday afternoon claimed the life of 34-year-old Robert Krensing of Fergus Falls. Authorities say a minivan in Becker County crossed the center line and collided head-on with the vehicle in which Krensing was a passenger. The National Weather Service warned that blizzards would hit parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin on Christmas Day and into the evening.
Kennedy legacy seen in Senate health-care bill
WASHINGTON (AP) — The memory of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy loomed over the Senate on Thursday when his weary colleagues moved his life’s work, health care reform, to the brink of reality.
“He’s having a merry Christmas in heaven,” said an emotional Sen. Paul Kirk, D-Mass., who was appointed to fill the seat after Kennedy succumbed to brain cancer in August. Kirk said it was an honor to essentially cast Kennedy’s vote as Democrats passed the Senate’s version of a bill that would extend insurance to 30 million Americans.
“It’s the proudest public moment of my life,” Kirk said.
Heavy snow arrives in time for Christmas
Some areas of of Minnesota had already received 8 inches of snow by early Thursday morning as part of a powerful winter storm that lumbered across the nation’s midsection, according to the National Weather Service. Some forecasts said the total could end up being more than twice that amount. The National Weather Service issued blizzard warnings for parts of Oklahoma, North Dakota, Minnesota and Texas. It cautioned that travel would be extremely dangerous in those areas through the weekend. Nearly 100 flights from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport were canceled Thursday and dozens more were delayed.
Minnesota in danger of losing congressional seat
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota padded its population of 5.2 million by 35,000 residents last year — not enough to keep the state from the cusp of losing a congressional seat. State demographer Tom Gillaspy projected Wednesday that Minnesota could fall just 1,100 people short of what it needs to keep all eight of …
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Bishops discuss increased oversight of Catholic colleges
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops went behind closed doors at its fall meeting Wednesday to discuss what action it should take to increase oversight of the nation’s more than 200 Roman Catholic colleges and universities, which includes St. Thomas.
Vikings announce deal with Mall of America
The Mall of America is coming to the Metrodome. The mall and the Minnesota Vikings say they’ve reached a three-year agreement on naming rights to the football field. The field will now be referred to as Mall of America Field at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome until the team’s lease expires in 2012. Neither party would …
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St. Thomas magazine halts profile of Saudi alum
A University of St. Thomas alumnus from Saudi Arabia said Friday that the university president blocked a school publication from running a profile about him out of concern it would harm efforts to recruit Saudi students.
Ali al-Ahmed, 42, who earned his master’s in international management from St. Thomas, is director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs in Washington, which describes itself as a nonpartisan think tank on Mideast and Islamic issues. The profile was written for B., the magazine of the St. Thomas’ Opus College of Business, and had been in the works for more than a year, al-Ahmed said.
Ordinance would put onus for underage drinking on landlords
A proposed ordinance holds St. Paul landlords responsible for underage drinking parties on their properties. City leaders will consider an ordinance that punishes adults who knowingly allow parties where minors are drinking alcohol, including landlords. St. Paul Alderman Russ Stark says landlords should bear some of the responsibility. But, landlord Christa Delfiacco says she shouldn’t …
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